


Flesh and Blood

by brownie_t



Series: Nyssara Family Fics [4]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Adoption, Brothers, Bullying, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, F/F, Family Feels, Family Issues, Fluff and Angst, LGBTQ Female Character, League of Assassins - Freeform, Nyssara, Nyssara family, Plot Twists, flesh and blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-02
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-29 16:05:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5133812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brownie_t/pseuds/brownie_t
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nyssara in Central City. About 2 years after 'Story Time'.<br/>When one of their children gets bullied in school, Nyssa is not the only one who wants to protect them at all costs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flesh and Blood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Oceanobsession](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oceanobsession/gifts).



"What's going on?" Sara looked confused as she walked into the living area of the penthouse they'd been living in for about seven months, where Nyssa was angrily pacing up and down in front of their son. "Are you guys alright?"  
"Do you remember this Timothy-guy with the awful soccer mom and the business man dad?" Nyssa asked, her tone already telling Sara that something bad was on the brunette's mind.  
"Yeah, I do, how could I forget?” She sighed and shot a sad look at their son. “His mom was the one who told me that our son will become a psycho growing up with two moms and no father figure. Not that she would know anything about our life at all." The thought about the conversation still left a bitter taste on her tongue. "Why do you guys talk about her? What'd she do this time?" They had had more than enough encounters with the hectic, arrogant and slightly egocentric suburban woman in the last six months already. Her son apparently had got all the bad genes from his mother, being an annoying know-it-all was only one of his less appealing features.  
"It's not about her this time..." Nyssa sighed.  
"It's nothing. Don't worry, Ma", Samuel hurried to say, his eyes showing worry and something that seemed like... fear? Sara instantly had a very uncomfortable feeling settling in her stomach.  
  
Their son was still new in his class, he was younger than all of his classmates and yet his thoughts were analytic and wise for his age. He was only eight years old but already a fourth-grader and still he was top of his class. He had been able to read and write at the age of five, his language skills were outstanding and he had always been interested in music, history and analyzing things in general. He wasn't one of the cool kids, he was quiet and shy at first but he was loyal, smart and loving. What made him an outsider in Central City was that he was on both an emotional and a cognitive level more mature than anyone his age.  
  
"Sammy, what did Tim do?" Sara asked softly.  
"It's nothing I couldn't handle myself" Samuel stated quietly, averting his eyes.  
"No." Nyssa firmly objected. "I am Nyssa al Ghul, Head of the Demon, leader of the League of Assassins, and I will not let my own beautiful, smart and precious flesh and blood be bullied by some annoying 10 year-old child who can't even spell the word 'cucumber'."  
  
Sara grinned about her wife's rant but Sammy looked sad and whispered: "Well, that's the point. I am not."  
"You're not what?"  
"Your own flesh and blood."  
  
Nyssa stiffened visibly and Sara's grin disappeared within a split-second. They had discussed this topic before, but never ever had Samuel doubted that he was an equal member of this family, never before had he been bitter about the fact that they were not his birth-parents. Sammy continued with his explanation, his voice firm but carrying hurt.  
  
"I'm nobody's son. I'm an outcast here. I'm a weirdo. That's what he called me. He said you two weren't my parents because you're sluts and that the fact that I was so weird proved his point that I was abandoned by my real parents and my fake parents just weren't good enough to raise me so that I was a normal boy like all of them!"  
He had raised his voice throughout his rant. Both Nyssa and Sara stared at him, Nyssa with absolute disbelieve and anger in her eyes, Sara's eyes glistening with tears because what her beautiful child had just said cut deeper than all the knives she had felt piercing her flesh.  
  
There was a long moment of tense silence between them, then Nyssa, jaw clenched from restraint and rage, spun around to leave the room, stopped by Sara who had already figured that Nyssa would go off to search for Timothy's family and had grabbed her wife's arm, whispering her name. She looked at Sammy, who suddenly seemed small and fragile, and quietly asked him: "Is that what they're saying? Or is that what you think, too?"  
Sammy appeared to be utterly lost and vulnerable when he ducked into his corner of the sofa and shrugged, eyes trailing the wooden floor and white carpet to his feet.  
  
"Samuel..." Nyssa's voice was soft now, much alike to the way she usually said her wife's name, and her expression showed all kinds of emotions, which normally could be considered a rare occasion. However, in this family, where she felt save and welcome and loved, she showed her loved ones how much she cared in return. The Demon's eyes mirrored pain and sadness, guilt, empathy and love and though her jaw was still locked, it was obvious that the reason behind it was her family hurting and not blind rage. She lowered herself next to her son and laid her hand on his knee, waiting for him to look up at her face. When he finally lifted his gaze from the ground, she looked him dead in the eye and made it impossible for him to look away. Usually this wasn't something she did with her family. But this was a special situation and she had to make sure that he understood how serious she was about this question.

"You are my son. You. You are my son and no one is allowed to tell you otherwise. I love you like I love your siblings, like I love your ma. You are my family, you are my home, you are my life and soul. Without you, I mean nothing. Without you, especially you, son, I wouldn't be half as much of a leader as I am now. You make me happy and the fact that we're not your birth-parents doesn't change anything about that. You came into our lives at a very dark time, when we desperately wished for a brother or sister for Kaseem but were convinced your ma wasn't able to give birth to a child. We fell in love with you the first day we met you, with your curly hair and deep eyes, eyes that had already seen too much darkness. Your parents didn't abandon you. They were killed in a bombing in Syria and you survived the horror you witnessed. You are special. You are smart. You are kind. You are wise, oh, how wise you are for your young age. The other children don't understand you because you're different than anyone they have ever met before. But Sam, this isn't a bad thing. You are precious and I don't want to miss a single day of your life because it makes me so much better in my heart to know that you are my son, no matter whose flesh and blood you originally were. You're mine now and nothing will ever change that. You, my love, are Samuel al Ghul, son of Nyssa al Ghul, Heir to the Demon, and you deserve every bit of that title as well as your brother and sister do. You are not weird. You are born to lead. And people will always doubt and fear that. Believe me, there will be challenges and people who want to ruin you - but you are better than that. You have a beautiful mind and soul and you are going to be a great part of the League, whether it will be as Head or Second, you will be wise and you will know exactly how to save ignorant people like Timothy from a fate worse than death without them even seeing a threat. One day, they will realize how special you are and you will be able to choose whether to have mercy and forgive them or whether to get justice for all the wrong they have done you."

Nyssa's speech had both Samuel and Sara spellbound, the latter one didn't even realize the stream of tears running over her face.

"It is up to you, son. You can listen to what they tell you, you can believe what they say and you can doubt our love for you all you want. This is your life, your choice. But know that if this kid or his family ever insult my wife again, I will pay them a visit. I swear by everything that I hold dear, I will not tolerate anyone who speaks unjustly of my Beloved. I would go see them just now, but you said you wanted to handle this situation yourself and so be it. As I said, I respect every single decision you make, even if I do not necessarily like it. Samuel..." she breathed quietly, almost sighing his name. "My beautiful son. We taught you to respect other people and you do. But that doesn't mean you have to respect the way they treat you. You tell Timothy to shut up about your family and stop bullying you. And if you feel like you can't do it, you ask us for help. Sometimes it's fine to show people what you are made of. And you are not made of glass. You are made of diamonds. You are beautiful and precious and brilliant and strong. Nothing can break you, unless you give in and you are too good for that. You are smart and kind but you can damn well break this kid's nose if it comes down to that. I would like you to not break him anything else because that would attract too much attention."

She smiled at her son and felt Sara's hand on her shoulder, as she, too, lowered herself next to Samuel. Samuel looked from Nyssa to Sara and swallowed hard.  
"You really love me that much, right?"  
"Absolutely, Sammy", Sara reassured the boy, face still slightly wet from silently crying over her family.

"We love you, no matter what, no matter your story, no matter your choices. We are your parents, just like we are Kaseem's and Mira's parents, and nothing will ever change that. They love you, too, you know. No matter what, your brother will always be there for you if you need him, even though you argue and fight - that's what brothers do. He's on your side. And Mira.... well, she's not able to kick anyone's ass, yet. But she sure as hell will be and you can count on that, too. Just look at the way she throws her toys around, she definitely doesn't lack precision."  
  
Now Samuel couldn't fight the smile anymore. "She's got a lot of strength, she could break Tim's nose already I guess", he smirked and scooched closer to his mothers to hug them.  
"I'm sorry...", he whispered, one arm around each of them, his head on Nyssa's shoulder, face turned towards Sara. "I don't believe what he said. But it just hurt so damn much and it got me wondering... I just can't seem to fit in", he explained. "But I will have to stand up for myself and for you and maybe next time he threatens me I will be able to stand my ground... Thank you for not being mad at me."  
"Why on earth should we get mad at you for something another kid said to you?" Sara asked, surprise in her tone.  
"Because I just let him insult you and that's not right. I should've defended you."  
"Don't worry about us, Samuel. We can handle it, as long as you are alright", Sara said and tousled his dark, curly hair.  
"I am now", he said.

They stayed in their embrace for some more time until Samuel casually mentioned that he'd have the perfect excuse for not showing his maths homework the next day. "I'll just say you literally both held me tight so I couldn't move and do my exercises", he planned, eliciting an amused laugh from both his mothers and after one last kiss on his forehead from each of them, they let him go off to his room.

 

* * *

 

 

None of them had noticed Kaseem standing in the shadows of the far right corner of the room, right next to the big opening that connected the living area with the kitchen. Not Samuel, though he had become quite attentive over the last months, not Ta-er al-Sahfer, Beloved of the Demon, too worked up in motherly feelings, not even Nyssa al Ghul, the Head of the Demon herself, focused solely on reassuring his younger brother, had any idea that the twelve-year-old boy hid from them and had perceived every word spoken since Samuel had started ranting. And in the same way Nyssa had wanted to march over to Timothy's house to shut that family up, blind rage filled Kaseem's heart. Only nobody stopped him from going there. His little brother was suffering under the pressure of a bully and not only that boy but also his ignorant parents insulted Kaseem's family repeatedly - with words and actions they would dearly regret. Nobody insulted the Heir to the Demon and nobody threatened the home and soul that was his family. And nobody called the Head of the Demon and her wife, his parents, ‘sluts’ and ‘abominations’ without being brought to justice.  
Kaseem's heart pounded with fury as he watched his ma's eyes fill with tears at Sammy's harsh words, and for the first time he witnessed his mum forcing Sam to listen to her. Not ever before had their parents actively made them do something. It has always been their choice as it was their life. This moment was heavy, essential, this moment was both, the Head of the Demon talking to its Heir and a mother making sure her son understood the importance of her words. Kaseem watched Samuel shedding tears, was spellbound by Nyssa’s speech and resurfaced eerily calm and focused on only one goal – to protect his precious family at all costs.

“أخ”, he whispered with his teeth clenched together. “Brother.”  


Then he went to make sure the boy wouldn’t be a problem anymore.


End file.
